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NEW YORK, NEW YORK 

As the project lead, Field Operations led the design and construction of the High Line—a 1.5-mile-long elevated rail structure on Manhattan’s West Side. Reclaimed as an extraordinary “strolling garden in the sky,” the design is characterized by an intimate choreography of movement with alternating vistas and experiences, each leveraging the amazing “borrowed landscape” of Manhattan and the Hudson River. Distinctive paving, planting, furnishing, lighting, and social spaces create an authentic and memorable New York City experience, drawing diverse visitors from around the world and adding significant green space and ecology to an otherwise densely built city. 

Since its opening in 2009, the High Line has been lauded as an icon for urban transformation and innovative design. It is an enormously successful project, a defining feature of New York today with over 7 million visitors from around the world annually. It helped catalyze new investment in the surrounding area, with significant new development and the emergence of a new mixed-use neighborhood. The ecology of the area has been enhanced with over 100,000 plants, comprising over 1,500 species of plants, birds and insects. The project has won numerous national and international awards and accolades, including the Veronica Rudge Green Prize in Urban Design, and serves as a model for infrastructure reuse in other cities around the world.

The High Line design is a collaboration between Field Operations (Project Lead), Diller Scofidio + Renfro, and Piet Oudolf. The client is a private-public partnership between the City of New York and Friends of the High Line.

Photography by Iwan Baan and Barrett Doherty.

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA

Situated on 7.4 acres between City Hall, the Interstate-10 freeway, and Santa Monica’s iconic palm tree lined Ocean Avenue and beachfront, Tongva Park and Ken Genser Square transformed a derelict, asphalt lot into a lush landscape of rolling hills, swales, Mediterranean meadow gardens, water features, viewing pavilions, public restrooms, and active urban spaces for the City of Santa Monica. Swooping pathways and walks openly connect the western neighborhoods to the beach, ocean, and landmark pier. The park is now a much-beloved green space for the community and visitors alike, offering shade, greenery, strolling pathways, amenity, and space for programming and events. 

Tongva Park is evidence that a project’s success is highly dependent on the active engagement of the people who will ultimately use it, while also broadening and diversifying that audience. This central park has transformed this corner of Santa Monica, and has prompted significant new investment in new housing and hotel upgrades in surrounding blocks. 7.4 acres of asphalt have been transformed into significant new green space, adding 30% shade from new trees, 70% permeable surface for stormwater retention, over 400 species of plants, and a variety of park amenities for a diverse community to enjoy. Since its opening in 2013, it has received over 20 design awards, most notably the ASLA Honor Award for Design and Finalist for the ULI Global Award of Excellence for Urban Open Space.

Photography by Steve Proehl, Tim Street-Porter, Joakim Lloyd Raboff, and Angie Smith.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Sited on former marshland and the banks of the Potomac River, the Tidal Basin is a cultural touchstone and a prominent attraction along the National Mall, home to the Jefferson, FDR, and MLK memorials as well as D.C.’s iconic collection of cherry trees, whose blossoms are celebrated each spring. 

Due to years of delayed maintenance and neglect, the Tidal Basin’s flood gates no longer operate as originally intended, allowing the river to rush over the gates at high tide. This, coupled with rising water levels—due to climate change—in the Potomac, lead to daily inundation of the paths and cherry trees. Climate change is also producing increasingly intense and frequent storms, which flood the Tidal Basin, National Mall, and surrounding city fabric. As such, the issues facing the Tidal Basin are significant and represent a microcosm of the broader impact of climate change on our cities, parks, historic sites, and cultural resources.

Field Operations was invited as one of five participants in the 2020 Tidal Basin Ideas Lab, charged with addressing the site’s challenges and proposing a future vision for the Tidal Basin. Field Operations proposes three scenarios, which together construct an argument about the significance of these problems and how to best solve them. Each scenario considers a different approach: “Curate Entropy” embraces the inevitability of decline and decay through a process of naturalization; “Island Archipelago” allows the waters of the Potomac to flood the Tidal Basin, and creates a new series of protective gardens around the monuments; and “Protect & Preserve” proposes a large earthwork ribbon with new walks along the river, fully protecting the Tidal Basin, monuments, and cherry trees while creating more parkland and opportunities for amenities and recreation.  

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

For Chicago’s historic Navy Pier, Field Operations has designed a contemporary “pierscape” that will renew the popular destination’s experience and connection to the water. Re-imagined as a green spine that extends from Lake Michigan back into the city, the Pier's South Dock anchors a series of thematic rooms filled with engaging social spaces, contemporary architecture, stunning water features, atmospheric lighting, amusements, and seasonal plantings. The new South Dock and adjoining Polk Brothers Park, as well as the upcoming East End Park, Crystal Garden and other public spaces, will make Navy Pier not only a world-class icon, but also a center of activity and culture that is reflective of an authentic, contemporary Chicago identity.

Field Operations’ approach for the redesign deploys a three-part strategy of: 1) strengthening connections between the city and lake; 2) refreshing and decluttering the pier to make way for new green infrastructure; and 3) embracing Chicago, its culture and character to create a place that is reflective of the city’s identity.

Navy Pier Phase 1, comprised of South Dock and Polk Bros. Fountain, opened in May 2016 and is the first project to achieve Gold certification under the Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES) v2 rating system.

Photography by Sahar Coston-Hardy and Navy Pier Inc.

LONDON, UK

A new spectacular rooftop garden, situated on the 16th floor atop the Foster + Partners-designed Battersea Power Station featuring residential, hospitality and office spaces, creates a new “woodland garden in the sky.” Field Operations designed an immersive and exploratory sequence of spaces and experiences for strolling, people watching, viewing, relaxing, and delight.

The design of the garden leverages the full 360-degree panorama of London and the dramatic view of the Power Station chimneys. Along the walkways are various overlooks, seating areas, and planted garden areas for protection from the wind and weather. The walkways, lookouts, features, and amenities provide a dramatic sequence of unfolding experiences and attractions, paired with spectacular vistas.

Opened in 2023, the roof garden creates a unique communal space for residents.

Photography by Nigel Young and Aaron Hargreaves / Foster + Partners.

SHENZHEN, GUANGDONG, CHINA

Qianhai’s Guiwan Park is the first of five “water fingers” built as part of the master plan Field Operations designed for Qianhai Water City in 2010. Guiwan Park provides not only a world-class urban park that supports the new city center, but also large-scale green infrastructure for stormwater management and flood and tidal protection.

Guiwan Park flanks the central drainage channel with three levels of terraces to mitigate the significant elevation change from the city level to the Qianhai Bay water level, which fluctuates due to tidal movement. With suitable planting species, these terraces are designed to provide vibrant public open spaces, while also supporting a variety of habitat recovery. 

A network of fluid and dynamic pathways connects the surrounding neighborhoods with the park in order to support a variety of programs, including habitat, event, and display inside the park from its east end to its west waterfront. Gently shaped earthworks emphasize the longitudinal movements along the central channel along with the pathways to orient visitors as they move towards the bay.

Photography by Holi Photography and ZC Studio.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA

At Comcast NBCUniversal's historic working studio lot, a revitalization of the landscape sparks the transformation of where and how work happens across a newly connected creative campus. A collaboration between Field Operations and LEVER, the Campus Project unifies master planning and redevelopment efforts and draws inspiration from the beauty of the Southern California landscape to revive a unique sense of culture and place at NBCUniversal.

The outdoor spaces are designed with all campus constituents in mind, offering places to collaborate, relax, dine, and socialize. Amenities include an intimately scaled commons, a lush and shaded, outdoor roof terraces, and a series of garden lounges, small pavilions, and plazas for outdoor dining and collaboration. In addition to providing these campus amenities, the landscape also accommodates the needs of an industrial studio lot with flexibility for large and small events and production.

Providing digitally connected garden workspaces, outdoor dining areas, and a variety of flexible gathering areas, the paseo and plaza blend indoor and outdoor spaces. The campus redesign seeks to foster creativity and innovation by encouraging people to leave their workspaces, inviting chance interactions and bringing creativity into inspiring and agile outdoor spaces.

MIAMI, FLORIDA

The Underline is a 10-mile-long multimodal corridor that stretches from the Miami River in Brickell to the Dadeland South Metrorail station. The corridor reimagines the space underneath Miami’s elevated Metrorail tracks. Once completed, The Underline will create more than 120 acres of open space with restored natural habitats; improved pedestrian and bicycle pathways that connect directly with public transportation; and public open spaces with various active, passive, and cultural programs and public art installations.

Brickell Backyard is the first phase of The Underline, located at the northernmost portion. This section starts at the Miami River and extends half a mile south to SW 13th Street. The design is organized by a procession of rooms—the River Room, Gym, Promenade, and Oolite Room—each articulated with a unique program that responds to its immediate context and to the needs of the local community.

Phase 3 is currently in design, with construction expected to begin in late 2023.

Photography by Sam Oberter.

CLEVELAND, OHIO

Public Square is the historic, geographic, and symbolic center of downtown Cleveland. The revitalization of the Square in 2016 as a renewed civic core and public commons is the culmination of a multi-year process to reinvigorate the downtown and re-position Cleveland as one of the Midwest’s premier places to live and work. The design lends a bold and iconic identity to the Square, while addressing key physical challenges of unification, clarification, and activation. The new 6.5-acre Public Square dramatically reconfigures the once-fragmented quadrants into a unified and people-oriented whole. 

Public Square’s renovation in 2016 reaffirmed its role as the true civic core of Cleveland and northeast Ohio. As such, it boasts distinctive and beautiful settings for all forms of civic activity, including gatherings and meetings, parades and events, markets and festivals, play and cultural attractions, art, and a mix of food and beverage offerings with the dramatic backdrop and draw of the downtown. Public Square is once again Cleveland’s collective space—a space for social interaction, democracy, and inclusion.  

Since opening in June 2016, Public Square is already beloved, recognized as critical to Cleveland’s ongoing revitalization, and renewed as a public commons for civic discourse, honoring its legacy as a place where famous orators, politicians, and free speech advocates previously spoke to thousands.

Photography by Aerial Agents and Sahar Coston-Hardy.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Working with Two Trees Management, Field Operations and Bjarke Ingels Group designed the River Ring Master Plan, which will enhance connectivity of the public waterfront, reinstate natural habitats, elevate the standard for urban waterfront resiliency, and transform the way New Yorkers interact with the East River. 

The waterfront park features a circular esplanade that extends into the East River, connecting a series of nature trails, amphitheater, boating cove, children’s natural play area, and sandy beach, all promoting access in and around the river. 

Drawing inspiration from Jamaica Bay, the project embraces the river instead of building walls and hard surfaces that accelerate storm surge and push it to adjacent waterfronts. Waterfront infrastructure and open space will feature breakwaters, marshes, wetlands, and a tidal basin that will dissipate wave action from storm surges to increase resilience and create calmer waters for safe in-water recreation.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Domino Park is the first phase of the transformation of the former Domino Sugar Factory site along Brooklyn’s East River into an ambitious mixed-use development project by Two Trees Management. Inspired by extensive community input, Domino Park reconnects the Williamsburg neighborhood to the East River for the first time in 160 years, by drawing public streets through to the river. The 5-acre riverfront park showcases the history of an iconic industrial waterfront site by integrating over 30 large-scale salvaged relics, including 21 original columns from the Raw Sugar Warehouse, gantry cranes, screw conveyors, bucket conveyors and syrup tanks into an interpretive and educational “Artifact Walk.” The park is raised above FEMA flood elevations with many native plant species that reduce stormwater runoff and function as an absorbent sponge, providing the first line of resilience against storm surge. 

Domino Park has been embraced by the diverse community it serves, with nearly 3.5 million visitors since opening in June 2018. Several local community organizations, such as El Puente, Brooklyn Public Library, Artists and Craftsman, and public schools host a wide-ranging set of events at Domino Park, including mural painting, book clubs, sketching classes, salsa, and student photography exhibitions. Last summer, the park hosted over 100 free public events, attended by nearly 7,000 New Yorkers, with over 15,000 people on the 4th of July. More recently, Domino Park has served as a critical resource for New Yorkers throughout the pandemic with painted circles that encourage social distancing on the lawn and expanded services for the community, including a composting dropoff and farmers market. A recipient of numerous awards, Domino has been recognized with this year’s ULI Global Award of Excellence for Urban Open Space.

Photography by Daniel Levin and Barrett Doherty.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

Following an international design competition in 2014, Field Operations was selected to develop a 14-acre “tunnel top” parkland for San Francisco’s historic Presidio. Presidio Tunnel Tops bridges over the newly tunneled Presidio Parkway (formerly Doyle Drive), which for years has separated the historic Main Post from the highly popular waterfront below, including Crissy Field and Crissy Marsh, directly reconnecting the city to the bay. Through a series of connective pathways, bluff landscapes, dynamic overlooks, and social gathering places, Tunnel Tops is a new, central place to meet and learn, to experience, to enjoy and to forge new forms of community and events. 

Presidio Tunnel Tops opened in July 2022. Field Operations is also working with the Presidio Trust to prepare a long-range landscape master plan for the larger 1,500-acre site. 

Photography by Field Operations and Pavel Bendov/Arch Explorer.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

The High Line – Moynihan Connector, a new elevated pathway, is part of a longstanding vision to create safer, more enjoyable pedestrian access, connect people to transit, and seamlessly link public open spaces and other community assets.

Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and Field Operations, the Connector creates an episodic journey through Midtown West with the addition of two new bridges that connect the High Line at 30th Street with the Moynihan Train Hall through Brookfield Properties’ Manhattan West and its public plaza. Introducing the immersive landscape of the High Line, the Woodland Bridge that runs above 30th Street features deep and continuous soil beds built into the structure, supporting a lush landscape inspired by Eastern Deciduous Forests and connecting with the original High Line structure. The Timber Bridge, a glulam Warren truss made from sustainably sourced wood runs the length of Dyer Ave to connect Magnolia Court in Manhattan West Plaza with the Woodland Bridge.

The creative design collaboration between SOM and Field Operations, under the leadership of Empire State Development, Brookfield Properties, and Friends of the High Line, led to the Connector’s strikingly original and unique character.

Photography by Andrew Frasz.

MIAMI, FLORIDA

The Underline is a 10-mile-long multimodal corridor that stretches from the Miami River in Brickell to the Dadeland South Metrorail station. The corridor reimagines the space underneath Miami’s elevated Metrorail tracks. Once completed, The Underline will create more than 120 acres of open space with restored natural habitats; improved pedestrian and bicycle pathways that connect directly with public transportation; and public open spaces with various active, passive, and cultural programs and public art installations.

The Framework Plan outlines the key strategies that guide the design and includes detailed design of two early win demonstration projects: Brickell Backyard and the University Colonnade.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

Field Operations worked with WS Development on a master plan for the redevelopment of multiple sites in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston. Consisting of approximately 2 million square feet of commercial, residential, retail, restaurant, and other uses, the project aspires to build community and activity via active streetscapes and new public uses while respecting the grit and grain that is still seen throughout the fabric of the neighborhood and in historic Fenway Park, located at the center of the project.

The focal point of the development is the creation of one acre of public open space at the heart of the Fenway neighborhood through the pedestrianization of Jersey Street into a people-first, community-facing public space. Additionally, the project includes significant public realm improvements such as the restoration of Arthur’s Alley, improved connectivity to the Lansdowne Commuter Rail Station, new bike infrastructure that includes bike lanes and bike facilities, as well as significant improvements to public sidewalks and plantings.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Field Operations’ planning and design of the open space for Cornell’s new campus on New York City’s Roosevelt Island ensures a consistent identity that is at the same time flexible for long-term development. The 12-acre design offers state-of-the-art sustainability metrics, with porous pavements, storm-water gardens, native plantings and renewable materials. Offering a rich variety of social spaces, the design provides a unique and vibrant identity for this new 21st-century urban campus.

Active, public open spaces around the perimeter of the campus create a substantial public realm that leads to a series of social spaces that encourage various modes of interaction. Together, these social spaces and the perimeter buffer weave the buildings into a campus community. 

Cornell Tech Campus received a 2019 ULI Global Award for Excellence for the Framework Plan and Phase I Site Development.

Photography by Iwan Baan, Pavel Bendov/Arch Explorer, and Barrett Doherty.

The Berkeley Space Center Master Plan, developed by HOK and Field Operations with UC Berkeley and SKS Partners, is a multi-phase 36-acre development that establishes a new research and development hub in the Silicon Valley. The $2 billion development will accelerate the area’s existing research and innovation ecosystem, catalyzing deeper collaboration between the private, academic, and governmental sectors.

Building on and advancing the University’s three-part mission of education, research, and public service, the proposed master plan features 1.4M sf of Class-A office and R&D space, including wet and dry labs, conference space, academic facilities, retail amenities, and nearly 18 acres of open space. Later phases of the project will include short-term stay facilities and student and faculty housing.

Prioritizing density, efficiency, and diversity of uses for tenants, all while ensuring a high level of environmental sustainability, the Berkeley Space Center will serve as a testbed to pioneer and advance novel low-carbon design and construction practices identified in the master plan. The master plan provides a comprehensive vision that unites building, landscape, movement, environment, sustainability, and larger social and intellectual missions for a bustling hub of innovation, creativity, and inspiration.

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND

Working with the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, the City of Baltimore, community partners, and a large multi-disciplinary team of collaborators, Field Operations was the lead planner for the Reimagine Middle Branch Plan. The Reimagine Middle Branch Plan is a community-driven initiative to reconnect South Baltimore with a system of world-class parks, trails, programs, and economic development plans along 11 miles of the Middle Branch shoreline on the Patapsco River. Four “Equity Frameworks” (Restore the Shoreline, Transform Barriers into Connections, Create Active & Inclusive Parks and Support Communities with Equitable Development) structure the plan’s design vision. The equity frameworks translate community input into design, programming, development, and policy recommendations to be implemented over the next two decades.

While the plan outlines a visionary physical transformation of the Middle Branch, it is also meant to catalyze the intangible transformation of place for one that is equitable and inclusive. To that end, the plan recommends a series of capital improvements along with public programs, partnerships, policies, job opportunities, and equitable economic development initiatives. As a result, this plan imagines a holistic transformation of place and is fundamentally about environmental and social justice, resilience, and health.

HOUSTON, TEXAS

Working with Rice Management Company, SHoP Architects, and HR&A Advisors, Field Operations designed a master plan for the Ion District, one that creates a new kind of urban district for Houston, prioritizing street life, public space, and a mix of uses that embrace technology, community, and sustainability. This centrally located 16-acre district is poised to become a new heart of innovation activity in Houston and will provide office, academic, restaurant, event, and maker spaces, paired with ample public open space.

The first phase of development for the Ion District, the Ion building and plaza opened in April 2021 and provides 266,000 sf of office, academic, and retail space. The Ion Plaza is comprised of a central flexible space defined by a vine-covered airy trellis and flanked by two lush gardens that integrate existing and mature live oak trees. The gardens function as outdoor meeting rooms, with large-scale raised wood decks and signature social seating that provides spaces to eat, work, and meet under the shade of these majestic trees. The plaza supports the Ion as an incubator space with public space for collaboration and celebration, accommodating everything from small meetings to Party on the Plaza.

With design underway, Field Operations is continuing work with Rice Management Company on subsequent phases of development for the Ion District.

Photography by James Ewing.

LONDON, UK

London’s new Camden Highline will reimagine 1.2km of disused railway viaduct as a new “garden in the sky” connecting Camden Gardens in the west to York Way in the east. Working with the local community and key stakeholders in Camden, Field Operations is designing the new elevated park and walking route that provides much-needed greenery and opportunities for cultural programming.

By building up a layered experience of open bridge spaces with overlooks, garden spaces and nature classrooms, event spaces, and spaces for play, the project also has ecology and nature at the heart of its design plans and will connect neighborhoods, increase local access to green space, and build community pride and sense of place.

The Camden Highline received planning approval in January 2023, with an anticipated Phase 1 opening in 2025.

MIAMI, FLORIDA

Situated on the edge of Biscayne Bay, Knight Plaza connects the Pérez Art Museum Miami by Herzog & de Meuron and the Frost Museum of Science by Grimshaw Architects. The plaza provides a lush focal point between the two museums. Designed as a comfortable oasis from Miami’s hot climate, the plaza showcases a splendid display of sub-tropical plants in groups of custom-designed flowing planters which morph from wall to lounge to seat in one seamless form.

Photography by Pavel Bendov/Arch Explorer, Jim Palma, and Field Operations.

DALLAS, TEXAS

Field Operations worked with Parks for Downtown Dallas and the City of Dallas Park and Recreation Department to design West End Square, located at the center of the West End Historic District. The design for West End Square balances history and innovation, creating a much-needed neighborhood park catered to the district’s growing population and a testing ground for incorporating technology in a public space.

The Square’s design creates two unique environments: the Frame, a U-shaped canopy structure envisioned as a flexible armature for a plug-and-play approach to technologies, allowing these to be incorporated over time as the Square’s uses and needs evolve; and the Prairie Gardens that compose the interior of the Square with organically-shaped planting beds, sculpted and planted with a palette inspired by the Texas Blackland Prairies.

Photography by Sam Oberter and David Woo.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

As the largest single development project in Boston’s history, spanning 33 acres across 20 city blocks, Boston Seaport is creating a more connected mixed-use district with 10 acres of public open space alongside new buildings. The public realm design draws from the site’s context, inspired by New England’s coastal geology, pebble beaches, forest landscapes, and wooden boardwalks with a warm and natural color palette that gives it intimacy and a sense of place. The one-third of a mile pedestrian promenade will change the way Seaport connects to Boston Harbor by creating a vital pedestrian link between Summer Street and the waterfront. Designed to be public and welcoming, this new corridor encapsulates the full aspirations of the district as a beautiful and dynamic place to live, work, shop, and visit throughout the year.

The Rocks at Harbor Way was unveiled in October 2021 and the full project is slated for completion in 2024. 

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Field Operations, together with Handel Architects, developed the master plan to transform Greenpoint Landing’s 22 acres and a half of a mile of post-industrial waterfront into a new waterfront park and mixed-use development project along the northern end of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Once complete, Greenpoint Landing will include 5,500 residential units, a new public school and approximately 4 acres of public open space. 

The open space within Greenpoint Landing’s unique site forms a literal green arc along the river’s edge, with panoramic views of Midtown Manhattan, and connects back to the city grid with a series of park destinations located at the ends of each city street. Phase 1, which opened in summer 2018, provides public access to the waterfront in this area for the first time in decades. It features 1.5 acres of open space, including riparian garden terraces, a waterfront esplanade, a lawn, and a picnic area.

Greenpoint Landing is one of the first waterfront projects to deal with post Hurricane Sandy regulations for developments in flood hazard zones. In response, the open space employs a series of green terraces and pathways that are designed to flood, absorb and accommodate changing water levels, while also creating an accessible and dynamic public realm. A continuous lower-level waterfront promenade is punctuated by park features, including the renovated Green Street Pier, a flexible lawn, a dog run, an outdoor lounge, places for art, and a picnic area. 

Photography by Barrett Doherty.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

The Race Street Pier was one of the first public spaces to be realized as part of the ambitious Civic Vision for Philadelphia’s Central Delaware Riverfront.  For the Delaware River Waterfront Corporation, Field Operations’ design creates a strong physical experience that reconnects the City to the River, activates the water’s edge and establishes a distinctive new public park for the people of Philadelphia. The physical design of the pier is split into two levels—a sky promenade on the upper level and a lower level for passive recreation. A ramp rises along the north face of the pier below the Ben Franklin Bridge, dramatizing the sense of arriving into the space of the river with iconic views back to the Philadelphia skyline. The lower level supports a multi-purpose lawn, rich and layered planting beds and generous seating. It is enormously popular, attracting a diverse range of people for events both large and small.

Photography by Matt Stanley, Edward Savaria Jr, Christian Carollo, and Barrett Doherty.

CHENGDU, SICHUAN, CHINA

Working with SKP and Sybarite, Field Operations designed a new destination that integrates nature and retail while celebrating Chengdu’s diverse historical and cultural background and rich natural landscape.

The “Botanic Quilt” for the project’s landscape design is a physical manifestation of the eclecticism that defines Chengdu. As a patchwork of places that combine to create the “quilt,” this new site fosters integration between architecture, retail, public spaces, and landscape with art as the connecting thread. The project introduces a game-changing relationship between inside and outside through innovative architecture and landscape design, working as one to provide an unrivaled retail experience.

SKP Chengdu opened in December 2022 as a first of its kind transit-oriented development and subterranean luxury shopping mall.

Photography by Shihao Xiao, MMCM Architectural Photography Studio, and Nick Kuratnik, all courtesy of Sybarite.

SOUTH BAY, CALIFORNIA

The South Bay Sponge is an innovative model for how to adapt our urban coastal areas in the face of climate change, as many cities around the world face unprecedented threats from rising sea levels with increased flooding and related storm damage to infrastructure and settlement. The Field Operations Team worked with communities around the San Francisco Bay to shape a framework for adaptation for over 20 miles of shoreline, envisioning a future where nature and technology work together to improve the resiliency of our cities and towns, our social fabric, and our collective health and wellbeing.

The San Francisco Bay includes very low-lying and vulnerable communities, which are simultaneously growing rapidly and lacking adequate housing and transit connectivity. The South Bay Sponge is an innovative model for adaptation across the region, not only for adapting shorelines, but also providing new infrastructure and development for much needed housing. As a holistic model—combining ecological design with urban planning, development, and transit—the ‘Sponge’ provides an exemplary paradigm for coastal cities around the world.

The ‘Sponge’ is a concept for using natural systems as the primary tool for climate adaptation and resiliency across the San Francisco Bay. The ‘Sponge’ envisions ecological infrastructure on a large scale: new absorptive landscapes for collecting, filtering, and dispersing flood waters during storms, while also building higher ground for new development and transit. The potential for remnant marshlands, newly restored salt ponds, and newly constructed wetlands to be assembled and interconnected—as a regionally-scaled ‘sponge’ system—points to a new use of coastal landscapes to absorb and remediate rising tides and flooding.

The ‘Sponge’ is a model for engagement with the most vulnerable and disadvantaged communities. Field Operations customized a process to connect with communities, particularly East Palo Alto, by translating complicated issues into the accessible metaphor of the ‘sponge.’ The team wrapped a mobile Airstream with a super-graphic sponge image and traveled around to present ideas for discussion with 21 different ‘Sponge Hub’ drop-ins. Over the course of three months, over 1,000 people were engaged in the project across six cities and two counties.

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

Field Operations designed the 5-acre Central Green at the heart of the Philadelphia Navy Yard Corporate Center on a site historically marked by wetlands, meadows, and bird habitat. Today, the site is growing into Philadelphia’s most innovative and progressive corporate neighborhood. 

The design unites the cutting edge urban potential of the site with its native habitat, resulting in a new type of environment that is sustainable, green, and natural as well as social, active, and urban. A 20-foot wide Social Track organizes the site’s circulation and frames an immersive interior park that features flowering meadows, a hammock grove, an outdoor amphitheater, bocce courts, and fitness stations. Central Green has been recognized in the Architizer A+Awards and the ULI Philadelphia Awards for Excellence as a project that demonstrates quality planning and design, incorporating elements that build healthy places, promote environmental sustainability, and meet community needs.

Photography by Augmented Arts and Halkin Mason.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Hudson River Park’s Gansevoort Peninsula sits on 5.5 acres along the Hudson River directly across from the Whitney Museum in the Meatpacking District. Initially developed on fill, the site allowed Field Operations an incredible opportunity to incorporate both ecological restoration as well as access to the water that wouldn’t be possible at a typical Hudson River Park pier. 

Working closely with the community through a series of workshops, the design weaves together passive and active uses, including a salt marsh, a historic 13th Ave promenade, a multi-use sports field, an upland beach with kayak access, and numerous other park amenities and gardens. Gansevoort Peninsula incorporates habitat enhancements, which contribute to making the shoreline more resilient. It also features a large Whitney Museum art installation by David Hammons, Day’s End.

Gansevoort Peninsula opened to the public in October 2023.

Photography by Timothy Schenck and Barrett Doherty.

LONDON, UK

Field Operations led the master plan and design for the post-Olympic Games transformation of the South Park Hub from an urban brownfield with contaminated soils into the publicly-dedicated Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. 

Since its opening day in April 2014, the park has been a catalyst for social, economic, and environmental transformation for this formerly neglected part of East London. South Park Plaza’s program was directly influenced by community input—the surrounding neighborhoods previously had little access to open space, and often felt unwelcome in London’s traditional gardens. South Park Plaza is full of community-oriented places, from play areas to small stages for seating or impromptu performances, to food and beverage options. South Park Plaza received the prestigious BALI National Landscape Award 2014.

Photography by LLDC, Robin Forster, and Field Operations.

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

The design of the 60 Water Street Rooftop Terrace capitalizes on the spectacular panoramic views of the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, East River and Manhattan Skyline. Field Operations created a “meadow in the sky,” carving out a series of distinct “rooms” and environments oriented towards each of the unique vistas. The garden serves the residents of the building, providing a communal space for outdoor living, lounging, dining, relaxing, and entertaining. 

A mirrored cube transforms an existing egress stair into a focal point, creating a continuous horizon that reflects the expansive views and provides a shaded area for sitting, dining and entertaining. The design also features a series of custom alcove benches that face downtown Brooklyn to the south, a long linear water feature that captures impressive views of the East River to the north where visitors can cool their feet on a hot day, and a large wood deck and trellis that frame intimate views of the Brooklyn Bridge and lower Manhattan to the west. A central dining area is surrounded by a tall meadow composed of various grasses and perennials such as Korean feather reed grass, moor grass, coneflowers, yarrows, and calamint.

Photography by Matthew Williams courtesy of Two Trees Management.

SHANGHAI, CHINA

Taopu Central Park is the unifying element and urban green lung for Taopu Smart City, a science and technology hub in northwest Shanghai. Inspired by traditional Chinese culture’s tenets of graceful movement and beauty, the park’s dynamic and fluid network of pathways, waterways, and topography improve water quality, manage stormwater, provide an elegant soil remediation strategy, and create connections that transform industrial lands into a living ecosystem and a new kind of urban ecological park for China.  

Taopu Central Park breaks the mold for many parks in China. Land bridges and tunnels allow for needed road infrastructure while still creating a large continuous park, which prioritizes pedestrian safety, strengthens neighborhood connections, and creates habitat and wildlife corridors. The result is a dramatic and sizeable 237-acre park that redefines the city’s relationship to water, provides a sense of big nature within a dense urban context, and supports 21st-century metropolitan life with spaces for habitat, water, events, and display. 

Photography by INSAW Image and Holi Photography.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Muscota Marsh creates new public access to the Harlem River and provides amenities on the waterfront near Columbia University’s Baker Athletics Complex in Inwood. The project restores and extends the area’s native marshland, building on the site’s latent ecology and restoring wetland habitats by reintroducing a salt marsh and freshwater wetland zones with a diverse palette of native plants. The open space design includes a wooden deck through native water gardens, allowing for wildlife observation and places to sit and picnic.

In addition to providing restored habitats for wading birds like Great Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets, leopard frogs, and ribbed mussels to thrive, the park’s planting creates dramatic colors and textures, seasonal change, and educational programming that builds on the site’s ecology. The freshwater wetland areas are organized into three tiers that progressively receive, treat, and slow down stormwater runoff before it enters the tidal system. Muscota Marsh received a NYC Public Design Commission 2012 Design Award with special recognition for Green Infrastructure.

Photography by Shuo Yan © Field Operations and Julienne Schaer.

STATEN ISLAND, NEW YORK

At nearly three times the size of New York City’s Central Park, Freshkills Park comprises over 1,000 acres of closed landfill and 450 acres of wetland framed by spectacular views of downtown Manhattan. The award-winning master plan by Field Operations is guiding the transformation from landfill to parklands as Freshkills Park is built in phases, scheduled to be completed in 2036. 

Over 750 acres of the park support active and passive recreation, public event spaces, and miles of trails. Early win and pilot projects have focused on providing public access to the interior of the site and showcasing its unusual combination of natural and engineered beauty, including creeks, wetlands, expansive meadows, and spectacular vistas of the New York City region, as well as providing much-needed community amenities, such as the playground at Schmul Park. The park is owned and operated by the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation and the project is an ongoing collaboration with several New York City and State agencies.

Photography by Mona Miri/Sustainable Photography and City of New York, Department of Parks.

GANGNEUNG, GANGWON, SOUTH KOREA

With Richard Meier & Partners, Field Operations designed this iconic luxury beachfront resort hotel that responds to the growing demand of the region’s 2018 Winter Olympic Games, acting as a catalyst for the revitalization of the city. The landscape design creates a tranquil, peaceful and quiet expression of nature. Inspired by the existing site’s sweeping views, the design emphasizes long landscape horizons from a series of terraces: the ocean terrace, arrival terrace, marina lookout terrace, beach terrace, bamboo suite terrace and event terrace. Visitors arrive at the hotel along a serpentine drive through a pine forest with striking silhouettes and tactile beauty.

Photography by Field Operations and courtesy of the SEAMARQ Hotel.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

Shelby Farms Park is one of the largest urban parks in the U.S. and one of the most unique spaces that Memphis has to offer, described as a true treasure and lynchpin for the greening of the City. At 4,500 acres, it is more than five times the size of Central Park, with a mission to showcase Tennessee’s ecology and Memphis’ vibrant arts, food, and music culture; to be a gathering place for all; and to create an active, nature-based hub for recreation, health, and well-being. 

Today, Shelby Farms Park has transformed into a contemporary park that defines and shapes Memphis. Phase 1 is now complete, including the 195-acre “Heart of the Park,” defined by a massive new lake. The design significantly improves connectivity and accessibility and offers exposure to nature and greenery, particularly for the underserved parts of the City. The park is an economic engine for the region, is financially sustainable in its operations, and has re-established a relationship with natural systems, improving the surrounding environment and ecology for everyone to enjoy.

Photography by Timothy Hursley.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA

Arlington’s Met Park and a series of 19 private terraces—ranging from dog runs and community farms to event and collaboration spaces—compose the suite of open spaces for the first phase of Amazon’s new Arlington Headquarters (HQ2). The design draws on the area’s natural context and plays an important role in the D.C. metro area, where green and pedestrian networks are defining the region’s growth and development. The park’s design appropriately balances places for active recreation and urban refuge and includes a large and flexible space for both significant events and intimate gatherings, as well as gardens and walks. A new type of park emerges—one that serves the community and corporate Amazon employees alike.

Central to the design of this project is the inspiration of the wild. By evoking Met Park’s natural context—piedmont and coastal plain landscapes—Field Operations emphasizes the critical role nature can play in defining a place and its history while strengthening collective health and well-being.

Photography by Michael Zhao.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Field Operations designed the public realm for Manhattan West, a $4.5 billion mixed-use development on a unique two-block site on the west side of Manhattan, situated across from the historic Farley Post Office on the west and the new Moynihan Train Station on the east. The Brookfield Properties project is comprised of a complex of towers (north and south) flanking a central public space. The primary public open space is an elevated 2-acre plaza at the center of the development, built over a structure that covers an extensive network of train tracks running beneath. This central space is part of a larger urban gesture to knit together the existing Midtown business district with the newly developed Hudson Yards, flanked by retail and hosting many events as part of its year-round programming.

The Manhattan West development finished construction in early 2024.

Photography by Dave Burk © SOM, Shuo Yan © Field Operations, and Andrew Frasz.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Field Operations was commissioned to design the open space system and public squares for Columbia University’s new Manhattanville campus. Working with Renzo Piano Building Workshop, the 6-acre master plan identifies the unique site context of the elevated viaduct and subway line, transportation pattern, proximity to the river and the characters of the existing neighborhoods. Campus open spaces are open to the public, offering seating and free Wi-Fi, as well as space for public gatherings and performances. All streets of the existing street grid remain open and more publicly inviting with widened sidewalks, trees, street lighting and street furnishings.

The Manhattanville Campus Phase 1 was awarded the 2019 Urban Land Institute New York (ULI NY) Award for Excellence in Institutional Development, a statewide competition recognizing projects that demonstrate commitment to planning, design, sustainability, and community impact. Field Operations continues to develop the specific public realm designs as buildings are constructed to form the new campus, maintaining the intentions and cohesive character established in the open space master plan.

Photography by Timothy Schenck and Field Operations.

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE

The design for the Woodland Discovery Playground is intended to foster play and discovery, embracing fun and delight while cultivating healthy development of children’s physical and social well-being. Set within a natural woodland context, the playground provides an environment that promotes interaction and engagement—children must enter, move around, and look for opportunities to slide, climb, run, scramble, swing, build, find, and discover. The playground is one of the first projects to meet ambitious SITES™ performance benchmarks.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Field Operations worked with SHoP Architects to design, reimagine, and revitalize the South Street Seaport at Lower Manhattan's most vibrant destination—a place where exceptional retail, world-class dining, and engaging cultural events seamlessles blend into the city's most captivating waterfront backdrop. The roof features an open-air park ideal for concerts, fashion shows, and private events with a gathering space to soak in the sights and sounds of New York.

Opened in summer 2018 and framed by sweeping views of the city skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge, and East River, the new Seaport is a place of historical and cultural significance; a New York experience that engages both residents and tourists from around the world.

Photography by James Hartley and C. Taylor Crothers.

MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA

The Lincoln Road District Master Plan aims to accomplish two primary goals. The first is to enhance the aesthetic and social experience of Lincoln Road by addressing its physical and operational challenges through new design while showcasing its unique history. The second is to leverage the ongoing success of the Road and its neighbors to envision an integrated district, animated by arts and culture, which can effectively attract visitors and locals, and further elevate Miami Beach’s status as a global destination.

At the large scale, the Master Plan proposes physical and operational improvements to the Lincoln Road District encompassing the streets adjacent to Lincoln Road including Lincoln Lanes North and South as well as Drexel, Pennsylvania, Euclid, Meridian, Jefferson, Michigan and Lenox Avenues. On a more detailed scale, the Master Plan concentrates on outlining recommendations for the pedestrian portion of the Road extending from Washington to Alton Road.

2014 ROTTERDAM BIENNALE RESEARCH & EXHIBITION, THE NETHERLANDS

Field Operations, in collaboration with the Dutch design studio FABRICations, composed and exhibited a body of urban research at the Kusthal Museum in Rotterdam for the 2014 International Architecture Biennale of Rotterdam. The research responded to this year's theme with “Urban Metabolism,” offering a narrative for various invisible dynamics that shape the Rotterdam landscape. The research moves on to speculate on some strategic and programmatic design moves, suggesting and testing scenarios for the 21st-century port city. Such speculations include a subterranean urban heat network to use wasted industrial heat for residences and public spaces, reintegration of unused port slips into the Rotterdam ecological matrix, sediment capture infrastructure and aquaculture at the mouth of the Rhine, and integration of micro-manufacturing into the city through a newly articulated logistics boulevard.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Field Operations has been leading the design of a comprehensive framework plan and dynamic urban design for 1.5 miles of Waterfront Seattle. With the removal of the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the reconstruction of the Elliot Bay Seawall, the City of Seattle is poised to reclaim its waterfront and reconnect to Elliott Bay. The framework plan works at multiple scales to re-center the city and shape a new public realm. A robust urban framework utilizes character zones, nodes, and linkages to acknowledge difference in adjacent neighborhoods and capitalize on unique waterfront conditions.

HONG KONG, CHINA 

The revitalized Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront provides a holistic vision for Hong Kong’s harbourfront, with extensive waterfront access, urban and pedestrian connectivity, and an exciting public balcony and central space to view the harbor and skyline. Prior to this revitalization, the site was disconnected and offered few amenities. Working closely with the community, stakeholders, and planning agencies, the design team created a more open, interconnected, and dynamic sequence of spaces that significantly enhance the public experience and support public programming and events. The redesigned waterfront promenade includes seawall cladding that reduces wavebreak action, designed to protect the shore in the face of rising tides and extreme storms.

Since opening, the Avenue of Stars has been visited by millions of people, both local and visitors from around the world.

Photography by Studio UNIT, Gresh Production, and Urbis Limited, all courtesy of New World Development.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA

For the City of Minneapolis, Field Operations designed the 12-block-long Nicollet Mall, reinvigorating the beloved but aging pedestrian and transit corridor. The new design retains the defining curvilinear street from the original Lawrence Halprin plan, while recalibrating the Mall toward even greater social and pedestrian ends, creating Nicollet Mile. Nicollet Mile is a downtown destination, an attractive place to walk and experience the City, a curated promenade of experiences, a more sociable corridor, a ribbon of light, and an urban spine that connects various institutions and communities.

The redesign has made the mall more pedestrian-friendly and made it significantly greener while also contributing to a larger vision for Minneapolis’ revitalization, attracting investment and creating a place where people want to live, work, and play. 

Photography by John Muggenborg, Barrett Doherty, and Peter Brown.

SHENZHEN, CHINA

Field Operations was commissioned to develop the master plan for a vibrant new city on 4,500 acres of reclaimed land—a city that is dense, compact, mixed, sustainable, and centered around the water. Five distinct development sub-districts are defined by “water fingers” which function as innovative water quality infrastructures and parkland. The urban fabric within each development sub-district creates a range of interconnected urban neighborhoods. The result is a hyper-dense, ecologically sensitive urban territory with an iconic waterfront, diverse building stock, cultural and recreational features, and unique, interconnected public open spaces.